Ten miles outside the town.
Chen Xuan reined in his horse at the edge of a secluded forest.
He swung down from the saddle, tied the horse to a tree, then activated the Huanri True Qi within his dantian and began simulating Taibai Sword Qi.
When he had caught Wan Guiyun's sword move with his fingers earlier, he had captured a strand of Taibai Sword Qi.
That strand of Sword Qi was weak, but its characteristics were distinct.
Fierce, sharp, invincible.
The Huanri Technique's specialty was Heaven-Stealing Sun-Swapping, passing the false for the real. As long as it came into contact with another's True Qi, it could simulate nearly identical True Qi.
When the captured strand of Taibai Sword Qi merged into his Huanri True Qi, the Huanri True Qi gradually began to change as the technique circulated. It became fierce and sharp, its color turning silver-white.
Chen Xuan extended a finger, and a strand of silver-white True Qi emerged from his fingertip.
Fierce, sharp, invincible.
It was exactly the same as Wan Guiyun's Taibai Sword Qi.
"It worked."
Chen Xuan smiled.
With the characteristics of the Taibai Sword Qi cultivated through the Ultimate Art, the Taibai Sword Scripture, the power of his Nine Shadow Killing Sword would rise drastically.
Vajra True Qi was dense and powerful, but it leaned toward defense, making it far from the best choice for driving sword techniques. Taibai Sword Qi, however, specialized in slaughter and destruction, invincible against all things. It was the True Qi most suited to unleashing sword techniques.
Although the Taibai Sword Qi simulated by his Huanri True Qi possessed only ninety percent of the power of the genuine Ultimate Art, it was still incomparably terrifying.
"The Huanri Technique truly is wondrous beyond words."
Chen Xuan dispersed the Sword Qi from his fingertip, mounted his horse, and continued on his way.
Time flowed on.
The sun rose and set.
In the blink of an eye, it was the morning of the third day.
The outline of Fenglin City appeared on the horizon.
Chen Xuan reined in his horse and looked into the distance, his brows gradually furrowing.
That city could no longer be called a city.
Although its walls still stood, their surfaces were covered in dark-red bloodstains, as if they had been soaked in blood. They gave off an eerie dark gleam in the twilight.
The gates were shut tight. There was no one atop the walls—no guards, no patrols. The entire city was deathly silent, without even the cries of birds or insects.
A thick stench of blood filled the air. Even from several miles away, it was still so pungent it made one want to vomit.
"This is the Blood Sacrifice Array..."
Chen Xuan murmured.
He could sense that the entire Fenglin City was enveloped by an invisible force. It was cold and evil, like countless unseen threads wrapping the entire city so tightly that not even wind could pass through.
It was the aura of an array.
Under normal circumstances, only martial artists who reached the Grandmaster Realm could draw upon the spiritual energy drifting between heaven and earth to set up arrays.
However, that was not absolute.
Zhuqi Realm martial artists could likewise set up arrays with the aid of such items as array disks and Formation Flags. They simply could not control the arrays as flexibly as Grandmasters could. Every location where a Formation Flag was placed needed someone standing guard in order to sustain the array's operation.
Chen Xuan did not rashly approach Fenglin City. Instead, he rode around to the eastern side of the city.
According to the instructions in the secret letter, the gathering place of the Three Great Sects was on a hill east of Fenglin City.
Three flags snapped loudly in the wind atop the hill.
Guiyuan Sect's Crane and White Cloud Flag, Blood Fiend Devil Sect's Blood Moon Flag, and Ten Thousand Sword Villa's Sword Flag.
Beneath the flags, the three groups had formed their own formations, maintaining a subtle distance between one another. They seemed like allies, yet also like rivals.
Chen Xuan dismounted and walked toward Guiyuan Sect's camp.
"Who goes there?"
A martial artist stepped forward before the camp and blocked Chen Xuan's path.
"Outer sect disciple Chen Xuan, here under orders to participate in the siege against the Seven Kill Sect."
Chen Xuan took out the secret letter and his identity token.
The young man accepted them, glanced them over, and nodded. "Go in. Elder Shen is over there."
Chen Xuan followed his gaze and saw a middle-aged man in his forties standing at the hill's highest point, gazing into the distance at Fenglin City.
He wore a long azure robe, with a piece of mutton-fat white jade hanging at his waist. His entire person exuded a gentle, jade-like bearing.
Yet Chen Xuan could sense an unfathomable aura from him, deep as an abyss and towering as a mountain, one that no one would dare underestimate.
The Three Great Sects had made an agreement: Grandmasters above the Zhuqi Realm could not enter Tiannan Prefecture. Therefore, the elders stationed by the Three Great Sects in Tiannan Prefecture had all reached the Peak Ninth Stage of Qi Casting, only half a step away from becoming Grandmasters.
"Disciple Chen Xuan pays respects to Elder Shen."
Chen Xuan walked behind him and cupped his fists in salute.
"You are Chen Xuan?" Shen Qianqiu turned around. "Sun Tianxing said you encountered a fortunate opportunity, consumed a Golden Marrow Jade Fruit, and progressed by leaps and bounds in the Vajra Technique. You broke through into the Zhuqi Realm after just one month in Lianshan City.
"Now that I see you, it seems his words were true."
Chen Xuan sensed an invisible force sweep over him.
He knew that this invisible force was spiritual power, something only Tuotai martial artists at the Seventh Stage of Qi Casting could wield.
However, Chen Xuan had used the Huanri Technique to alter his cultivation, adjusting it to the Qi Casting Realm Second Layer so as not to draw too much attention.
If he showed the Fifth Layer of Qi Casting, it would be far too conspicuous.
After all, even the founder of the Vajra Sect had taken more than twenty years to break through to the Ninth Layer of Qi Casting after consuming a Vajra Relic Pill refined from a Golden Marrow Jade Fruit.
Chen Xuan had obtained the Vajra Technique only a month ago. If he revealed cultivation at the Fifth Layer of Qi Casting, it would be simply too shocking to believe.
Even Elder Shen Qianqiu, who had reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Casting, found no flaw when he probed with his spiritual power. He believed Chen Xuan truly possessed cultivation at the Qi Casting Realm Second Layer.
"Tian Wei, Chen Xuan possesses cultivation at the Qi Casting Realm Second Layer. For now, assign him to your team and have him follow your command."
Shen Qianqiu called over a martial artist standing nearby.
"Yes, Elder!"
The martial artist named Tian Wei answered and strode over.
He was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with resolute features and a burly build. A broadsword was strapped to his back, and he radiated the aura of the Fourth Layer of Qi Casting.
"Follow me."
Tian Wei led Chen Xuan to the rear of Guiyuan Sect's camp.
There were more than twenty people here, every one of them possessing cultivation in the Zhuqi Realm. They were all inner sect disciples.
The Blood Fiend Devil Sect and Ten Thousand Sword Villa were much the same, each having sent more than twenty disciples. Ordinary Body Tempering Realm disciples would be of no use in encircling and suppressing the Seven Kill Sect. Those dispatched this time were all elite Zhuqi Realm disciples stationed in Tiannan Prefecture City.
Tian Wei's team had six people in total. With Chen Xuan joining them, their number had risen from six to seven.
"This is Junior Brother Chen Xuan. He has cultivation at the Qi Casting Realm Second Layer."
Tian Wei gave a simple introduction.
The other five team members nodded toward Chen Xuan, counting it as a greeting. At a time like this, one more person meant one more bit of strength. No one cared who had arrived.
Tian Wei said, "You came at just the right time. After discussion, the three elders have decided to attack Fenglin City in a quarter of an hour. We will assault from four directions, charging in through all four city gates at once. If you had come any later, you would have missed it."
"Four directions?" Chen Xuan asked. "Besides the disciples of our Three Great Sects, who makes up the other force?"
"The people from the City Lord's Mansion of Tiannan Prefecture City," Tian Wei explained. "Though the City Lord of Tiannan Prefecture does not hold much real power, he cannot be left entirely out of a matter this significant. He has sent a force led by the deputy city lord at the Seventh Stage of Qi Casting to attack through the north gate."
"The Blood Sacrifice Array set up by the Seven Kill Sect within the city was not arranged by a Martial Grandmaster, but through the power of Formation Flags. Once we enter the city, our task is to find those Formation Flags and destroy them."
"As for the array core, the elders will naturally handle that."
"Understood!"
Chen Xuan nodded.
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